HATTIESBURG — Southern Miss announced the hiring of a new head football coach this week, drawing Charles Huff away from Sun Belt champions Marshall in an inter-conference coup.
Huff takes over a Golden Eagles program with just five bowl appearances and six winning seasons in the last 10 years. Huff succeeds Will Hall as head coach, who was fired after a 1-6 start to the 2024 season.
“My family and I could not be any happier to begin our journey in Hattiesburg as we look to continue the rich and storied history of Southern Miss football,” Huff said in a university release.
Huff’s Marshall team defeated Southern Miss 37-3 in Hattiesburg earlier this year, the fifth win on the way to a 10-3 season and Sun Belt championship. It was the first conference championship for the Thundering Herd in a decade.
“Our goal will be to build a program that can compete at the highest level and have our fan base enjoy the ability to return to bowl games on a consistent basis,” Huff continued. “I have to thank Southern Miss President Dr. Joe Paul, along with Athletics Director Jeremy McClain, in showing their faith in me and this staff with this tremendous opportunity and I can’t wait to hit the ground running in making this program something that we can all be proud (of).”
Huff held offensive assistant jobs at six different stops from 2006-2013, including a stop at the Buffalo Bills, before becoming running backs coach at Penn State in 2014. On James Franklin’s staff, Huff helped recruit and coach future NFL running backs Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders. He followed former Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead to Mississippi State as assistant head coach in 2018 before taking the same position with Alabama from 2019-2020.
Huff was named head coach at Marshall in 2021, posting a 32-20 record with four bowl appearances in four seasons.
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